Origens Allegorical Interpretation - Essay Example

In this paper I will look into the history of Allegorical interpretation. Moreover I will precisely study why Origen chose to interpret allegorically, what were the factors that influenced him to do so, the times and circumstances when he studied the holy words and also whether his approach was successful or not. Origen was born to a Christian family in Alexandria in either year 185 or 186. His father was believed to be a prosperous and prominent man, who gave his son with schooling that was equally Hellenistic as well as Christian and was based on the learning of the standard literary works of olden Greece and the Holy Bible.

Hence he grew up as together as a learned Greek and a committed Christian. This combat education definitely caused somewhat of an inside stress in Origen as he sought to settle his pledge to Christian belief and the Bible with the Hellenistic viewpoint he was educated. From the outlook of Hellenism, Christianity was slightly more than an additional barbarous false notion and the Bible represented a substandard set of texts that were not worth stern thought from the viewpoint of Greek visual standards2.

Origen was not the initial one to face this anxiety, and he was proficient to find out from preceding Jewish and Christian whereabouts with Hellenism, mainly Platonic philosophy, in his individual effort to confirm the Bible and its ideas in the framework of the Greek intellectual surroundings. Undeniably, as a student at the school in Alexandria, it is probable that some of his instructors were from Clement of Alexandria, and was also well known for his challenge to communicate Christian teaching to Greek philosophical reflection5.

Out of Origen's many works two are valued most in the history of the initial church and Christian thinking. "On First Principles" is a structured and methodical version of Origen's theological and truth-seeking arrangement relating to God, foundation, the different Logos of God, Jesus Christ and salvation. The second one that is "Against Celsus" is a comprehensive remorseful justification of Christian belief written in opposition to the analysis of the Roman thinker Celsus. In this book Origen tries to reveal the supremacy of the teaching and insight of the Bible over against that of the famous Greek philosophy.

AllegoryBefore I proceed to explain the history behind Origen's allegorical interpretation, I would like to mention the formal definition for the term allegory as given by scholars. The word "allegory," is a derivative from the Greek language, from the word "alla," which refers to "other," and another term "agoreuo," which means "to declare." It initially referred to a form of dialogue that Cicero put forward as a 'incessant flow of similes.' Allegory is a style of communication in which one thing is explained by another 5.

Allegory varies from the parable, as it is a more organized appearance of the diverse features of the thought that it demonstrates, and also in its contents which are apprehensive with the explanation of hypothetical truths rather than realistic exhortation.The History Of Allegorical InterpretationAllegorism was not a new concept at all. Infact it was well-known in